Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in HBO's "Game of Thrones."

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in HBO's "Game of Thrones." Credit: HBO/Helen Sloan

In an example of life imitating cable TV, more and more Americans are being named after characters from the massive hit show “Game of Thrones.”

The HBO hit series, now in its final season, weaves storylines and characters together within imaginary, magical realm where medieval families fight, plot and align themselves with or against those who rule

According to data by the name-tracking site names.org, some of the designations used on "Game of Thrones" are migrating from the small screen to real life as more and more American parents are finding inspiration in the appellations used on the program. Using data provided by the U.S. Social Security Administration, names.org created a breakdown of how often this is occurring.

A prime example is the name Khaleesi. Well-recognized in the world of pop culture, there were no records of babies given that name in 2010, one year before HBO first aired the show’s premiere. In 2011, when the show aired, there were 28 babies named Khaleesi. However, by 2017, there were 1,964 American girls christened as such. Khaleesi is also known as Daenerys Targaryen, played by actress Emilia Clarke. While there were no American children known as Daenerys before the show’s run began, there are were 468 in 2017.

A company spokesman does note that Social Security does not list any name that appears fewer than five times in a calendar year, so there could possibly have been four or fewer children named Khaleesi before the show existed. Khaleesi was in fact invented by author George R. R. Martin, whose fantasy series “A Song of Ice and Fire” is the basis for GoT.

Arya Stark is another major character, and unlike Khaleesi, Arya/Aria has real history as it’s a Persian name, and in 2011 had been bestowed upon 387 kids in the United States. But once Arya Stark was introduced on "Thrones," the name took on new popularity. By 2017 there were more than 50,000 in the record books.

Here are more examples of babies being born with "Game of Thrones"-inspired names:

Sansa in 2011: 0; by 2017: 89

Renly in 2011: 0; by 2017: 164

Theon in 2011: 0; by 2017: 236

Tyrion in 2011: 18; by 2017: 482

Meera in 2011: 80; by 2017: 2,636

Shae in 2011: 78; by 2017: 5,251

Additionally, the New York State Board of Health tracked baby names in Nassau and Suffolk from 2007-2016. Newsday dug into the data and found Long Islanders with "Game of Thrones" character names. During that time period, there were 64 babies named Arya, two babies named Khaleesi, two babies named Tyrion, three babies named Meera, one baby named Renly and three babies named Shae. There were no babies named Sansa, Theon or Daenerys. Search our database to see what parents are naming their kids and how popular any name was on Long Island between 2007-2016 at newsday.com/babynames.

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